Blue Jay Way

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Blue Jay Way
The Beatles
publication November 27, 1967
length 3 min 55 s
Genre (s) Psychedelic rock
Author (s) Harrison
album Magical Mystery Tour

Blue Jay Way (meaning the name of a street) is a song by the Beatles from 1967 that appeared on the album and the double EP Magical Mystery Tour . Text and music are provided by George Harrison , who also sings the piece.

Emergence

Harrison composed the piece in early August 1967 when he spent a few days in California with his then wife Pattie , friend and tour manager Neil Aspinall and Alex Mardas, head of Apple Electronics . They had rented a villa on "Blue Jay Way" in the Hollywood Hills of Los Angeles . Freshly arrived from England and tired from the long flight, they waited for the arrival of the Beatles' former press spokesman, Derek Taylor , and his wife. Taylor called and said they would be late. Harrison gave him directions to the mansion, which would be a little difficult to find. Taylor replied that he would be fine and that he could ask a police officer for directions if necessary. To pass the time before the Taylors arrived, Harrison began playing a Hammond organ that was in the mansion's music room. In doing so, he developed a melody and a text that addressed his waiting for the Taylors in the Blue Jay Way . When the Taylors arrived, the piece was almost finished.

“BLUE JAY WAY was at a time when I'd rented a house in Los Angeles on - Blue Jay Way, and I arrived there from England. I was waiting around for Derek and Joan Taylor who were then living in LA. I was very tired after the flight and the time change and I started writing, playing a little electric organ that was in the house. [...] The mood is also slightly Indian. "

- George Harrison in I, Me, Mine , 1980, p. 114

admission

In early September 1967, Blue Jay Way was recorded at Abbey Road Studios in London. To listen to it are played by George Harrison organ, one with filter effects provided drums by Ringo Starr , of George Martin arranged strings , a monotonous bass of Paul McCartney and very remote and strange-sounding backing vocals from McCartney and John Lennon . Mark Lewisohn compared the studio effort that went into recording Blue Jay Way with that of Strawberry Fields Forever or I Am the Walrus , using almost all of the technical tricks the Beatles - and their sound engineers - had to date for theirs Had developed recordings.

The result is a psychedelic "sound adventure" that can be considered characteristic of the Beatles' creative phase in 1966 and 1967 and is a typical example of the technical and artistic experiments that the Beatles dared to carry out during this period.

Blue Jay Way makes fascinating listening for anyone interested in what could be achieved in a 1967 recording studio.

- Mark Lewisohn: The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions: The Official Story of the Abbey Road Years , p. 123

Magical Mystery Tour

The piece can also be heard in the Beatles film Magical Mystery Tour , which was filmed in the fall of 1967 and first broadcast on British television on December 26 of the same year .

Individual evidence

  1. Steve Turner: A Hard Day's Write , pp. 144f
  2. ^ Neville Stannard: The Long & Winding Road , p. 61
  3. ^ Mark Lewisohn: Mark Lewisohn: The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions: The Official Story of the Abbey Road Years , p. 123